When the USA Freedom Act passed earlier this summer, the NSA was pushed to stop collecting phone records in bulk. The question of what would happen to the massive amount of data it’d already collected on people remained. That question was answered today: Those old troves of metadata are mostly going in the garbage. »7/27/15 3:50pm 7/27/15 3:50pm

Wikileaks published a collection of secret intelligence reports on France from the National Security Agency today, revealing that the NSA spied on the phones of France’s three most recent presidents and top political players, including current president François Hollande. »6/23/15 5:25pm 6/23/15 5:25pm

This is important! The EFF’s annual report card is out on how tech companies respond to government requests for your private data. Some companies take a firm position against government spying while others are basically government patsies. Where do the services you use stand? »6/17/15 6:05pm 6/17/15 6:05pm

Without public notice or debate, the Obama administration has expanded the National Security Agency’s warrantless surveillance of Americans’ international Internet traffic to search for evidence of malicious computer hacking, according to classified NSA documents.»6/04/15 12:30pm 6/04/15 12:30pm

This week, certain key sections of the notorious Patriot Act—the law that gives the NSA its snooping powers—automatically expired. Don’t get too excited just yet, though: they’re probably coming back with a few changes. Here’s what we know, and what it means for your privacy.»6/02/15 11:30am 6/02/15 11:30am

The story being spun by the defenders of Section 215 of the Patriot Act and the Obama Administration is that if the law sunsets entirely, the government will lose critical surveillance capabilities. The fearmongering includes President Obama, who said: “heaven forbid we’ve got a problem where we could’ve prevented a… »6/01/15 12:30pm 6/01/15 12:30pm

Section 215 has expired. At least for now. The law that the NSA used to authorize its collection of vast amounts of information about the telephone calls of ordinary Americans is no more. Even though it’s likely temporary, it’s a good thing and we should pause to celebrate a little. The calls and emails Congress… »6/01/15 3:30am 6/01/15 3:30am

In protest of any possible last-ditch re-authorization of NSA spying powers, thousands of sites are blocking Congressional IP addresses using a piece of code written by the activist organization Fight for the Future. »5/31/15 4:30pm 5/31/15 4:30pm

The National Security Agency’s controversial bulk phone data collection program is winding down with a weird whimper following an especially bilious round of legislative squabbling. »5/25/15 5:00pm 5/25/15 5:00pm

Another day, another cynicism-inducing reminder that the NSA hasn’t just been unlawfully dragnet spying on our digital lives—it has also rigged up new and complicated techniques to do so, like hijacking app stores to put spyware on smartphones. »5/21/15 12:10pm 5/21/15 12:10pm

A few weeks ago, two artists carefully placed a bronze bust of Edward Snowden atop a vacant war monument in a Brooklyn park. It was quickly removed, of course, by police, who fined the artists $50 each for trespassing. But now anyone can bring a Snowden statue to their city—the artists have shared the 3D printing… »5/12/15 7:20pm 5/12/15 7:20pm

People often think about internet spying as relatively new. But the internet was used for spying before we even called it the internet—and when we look back at news articles from the era, we can’t say we weren’t warned. »5/08/15 2:20pm 5/08/15 2:20pm

In the Terminator franchise, Skynet is an evil military computer system that launches war on humanity. And at some point, someone in the National Security Agency sat down and thought, “Damn, that’s a sick thing to name a secret system!” »5/08/15 12:50pm 5/08/15 12:50pm

Another flimsy justification for mass surveillance bites the dust— the Second Circuit court ruled today that Section 215 of the Patriot Act does not give the National Security Agency any authority to collect metadata. In other words: the NSA’s phone snooping program is straight-up unlawful. »5/07/15 10:13am 5/07/15 10:13am

German prosecutors are rallying to assess whether its BND foreign intelligence agency has broken laws by spying on officials and companies throughout Europe for the National Security Agency.»5/04/15 5:04am 5/04/15 5:04am

Government debate over encryption has veered into fully stupid territory. Expert testimony at a Congressional hearing on encryption blamed Apple and Google’s privacy systems for allowing perverts to get away with secretly photographing vaginas and posting the pictures online. »4/29/15 5:30pm 4/29/15 5:30pm

A formerly-secret report on the NSA’s warrantless surveillance was published yesterday evening. It’s a detailed look into the history of the Stellarwind surveillance program—one that makes it clear that government officials repeatedly questioned its legality and efficacy. »4/25/15 3:49pm 4/25/15 3:49pm